Review of The Western, London (by ‘The Reverend’)
Reviewed by The Reverend on 2009-05-22 at 16:22:42
So having driven within 5 minutes of the place almost every day since it opened, I finally got to see what it was like on Friday when, on my way home from work and having stopped off for a pint and a bite to eat near Hanger Lane (garlic pizza bread with an onion salad on the side, not the meal of choice when you’re about to be sat in close proximity to others for several hours) a friend rang to see if I knew where the Western was. Having pointed him in the direction of the Mob database I was rung back a couple of minutes later to be told there was a £10 rebuy on and I was playing. Protesting I had no passport or photo ID I was reassured that we would all go in together and there would be no problem.
Fast forward 40 minutes and I am at the club, my friends are still trying to figure out where the place is and with the tournament about to start they are on the phone asking me to go into the club I’m not a member of without suitable ID and get the start of the tournament delayed until they turn up……
Anyhows, I’m allowed in, and with a solitary tenner in my wallet I’m wondering how I can sign up 3 people. The Western doesn’t have a cash machine and doesn’t do cashback - so far so bad. I’m told there is one a short distance away but there’s no time for playing chicken on the dual carriageway to get to it, but in the meantime why aren’t they taking my money for my entry? £500 freeroll, no rebuys, just a monkey in the pot and not a penny to pay. Had I actually had any money to buy into a real event I might have been a bit peeved but as it was - perfect. They even let me sign up my mates who were on their way.
Off to the bar and £2.50 for a beer is quite reasonable, even moreso when the very friendly barman hands me a second for free. Free tournament, free beer, I like this place!
The tournament starts, no dealers obviously but a good mix of complete novices and people who can keep the game moving, first hand in and the chap on my right smacks the table and knocks both of my beers and his to the floor. I look at him and am not sure if he’s being rude not apologising or waiting to see if I smack him in the face first. Luckily the beers are in bottles and not much is spilt, and as it’s buy one get one free I get two replacements from the gentleman responsible to boot.
£2.50 for 4 beers and my tournament entry. I like this place a lot!
The playing area is extremely spacious compared to every other London cardroom (Gutshot’s new playing area is nice though I must say), the staff are friendly and the atmosphere is a hell of a lot nicer than everywhere else I’ve played in London, although we were only playing small stakes admittedly. Lost the freeroll but won the SnG I played afterwards for a ton Smile.
To top off the evening we sat down in a cash game and were joined by a very pissed off Jon Wong (4th in the Irish Open) who had been doing his money at the Omaha table and tried to sit down with several hundred at our £100 max game. He proceeded to pot almost every hand until he ran into my friend’s pocket kings with his K,T. Now Moo is a bad enough loser at the best of times, so when he did his stack with cowboys to the maniac with K,T that was the end of the night, although it was a great way to finish it (for me anyway).
A very pleasant evening, and I highly recommend the place. Although next time I’ll be checking there is a real tournament taking place, and be visiting the cash point in good time beforehand.
